Tilve Bhojanalaya’s Really Honest Goan food, Bandora, Ponda, Goa, August 2023

Tasty thalis with bhajis as delicious as the fish curry. Generous quantities. Reasonable and transparent pricing. Where else could we be but Ponda’s famous Tilve Bhojanalaya.

Tilve Bhojanalaya, Donshivaddo, Bandora, Ponda
Google Maps location: https://goo.gl/maps/AmEb9uDsgaE7sMh9A
Timings: 12.30 to 3.30 pm; 7.30 to 11 pm; open all days

Tilve Bhojanalaya is centrally located amidst a number of Goa’s most important temples, in Donshivaddo, Bandora, Ponda. To reach there, drive towards Kashi Mutt from the Bandora Tisk on the Panjim-Ponda-Margao highway. Continue straight past Kashi Mutt till you reach another tisk under a mango tree. This is in Donshiwado, next to the Bandora panchayat Take the right turn towards Shri Nagueshi temple. Then the first left turn at the small circle. And the first left turn again, towards Ramnathi. Tilve Bhojanalaya is less than 100 metres down this road, on your left

The restaurant in the Tilve family home has seating both in and outdoors. As the weather is great, we’ll eat in Tilve’s outdoor area today.

On arrival we are greeted by Vandesh Tilve, the second Tilve generation running his family’s restaurant, which was founded by his parents 30 years ago and has become one of the most popular eateries in the Ponda area. The food at Tilve is still prepared according to Vandesh’s mother’s recipes.

While we are chatting, I see something very eye-catching on the wall behind Vandesh. The Tilve menu spells out the prices of all fish dishes - and not just the fish curry rice plate - something which is extremely rare in Goa, where most restaurants simply put ‘as per size’ or ‘as per market rate’ against all fish and seafood items on the menu.

Tilve’s fish rice plate at Rs 120 and chicken rice plate at Rs 160 is really reasonable. The vellio and tarle plates at Rs 140 each, lepo fry plate at Rs 150 and bangda fry at Rs 160 is well within our budget. It’s a delight to discover such an honest eatery. Tilve is the answer to all Goan eateries who are overcharging behind the cover of daily ‘market rate'. Hope others follow Tilve’s example

Today, I’m having Tilve’s special fish thali with kingfish, and Maria is having the chicken rice plate. On my plate today is kingfish, rice, sal kadi, prawn curry, kismur, bhaji, chapati, salad and pickle. Maria has chicken curry, salad, rice, chapati and sal kadi.

As regular viewers of our channel know, we have tried a lot of fish thalis. And so we can say with some authority, that the curry at Tilve is just one of the best in Goa. No wonder this eatery is famous far beyond Ponda

One of the best items on my thali was the bhaji. On that day, Tilve had prepared an akhi masoor (whole red lentils) and batata (potato) bhaji. Just delicious. Something different I’ve not had before

In less than Rs 500, we both have had a fabulous lunch, enjoying fish, prawns, teesri, chicken and a sublime bhaji. This is why we both come to Tilve again and again.

Tilve restaurant is close to Ramnathi temple, Shri Mahalaxmi Saunsthan, Shri Nagueshi Temple and Shri Shantadurga temple in Kavlem, among others.

After visiting the temples, come and do some pet puja at Tilve, for a real authentic taste of Goa

#goa #4k #goanfood #fishthali #ponda #fishcurry #chickencurry #muttoncurry